akmal's bike park

Monday, 17 August 2015

One of the places that I would like to cycle before this is Putrajaya. Touted as a cyclists friendly township, I had high expectation about the place. Moreover, there are many parks around the area which I would like to explore with my family (later on). I joined a bash with KLMBH last year in Putrajaya, but that ride is different from PIPR. PIPR is specifically bringing the riders around the parks available in Putrajaya, introducing them what's available in the vicinity. Also, Pak Adib Noh had always posted many, many beautiful photos on his fb wall on the subject of the parks in Putrajaya.

And so I participated in PIPR for the first time on their 29th edition. RM25 fee before the closing date gets you an event t-shirt and a medal (if you finish the ride), a meal with drinks, a chance to win prizes in a lucky draw and a lucky dip.

have handpump to lend, make new friendsfrom Seremban: Akmal, Hafiz and Firdaus

I drove from Seremban at 7:00 and reached the place of event a bit less than an hour later, ample time to get my goodie bag and get my bike ready before the event starts. I didn't expect the crowd to be big, so I was surprised that the turnout for the event is very encouraging. As this is an event designed for all walks of life, it is nice to see the mixture of participants and their bikes alike. Personally, this is a leisurely ride and a 'fun ride' event. This, was reiterated by the organiser in their pre-ride briefing. The point being, this is not a race. My kind of ride, of course.

:)

the crowd raring to go

The ride eventually started at a few minutes before 9:00 am. Positioned at about two-third of the whole crowd from the starting line, I had to wait about a minute before rolling the tires. The event started at Taman Perdana Putra (Presint 1, the big oval roundabout at the heart of Putrajaya). Going down towards Lebuh Perdana Barat, we worked out about a quarter of the roundabout. The traffic is regulated, closed and therefore restricted momentarily only to cyclists. This in part is good as there are small children in the pack as well; the traffic safety thus is something less to be concerned about.

a view of Putrajaya landmarks from Lebuh Perdana Barat

the ride is for all ages, big and small

at Presint 11

at Taman Saujana Hijau, Presint 11

The destination is Taman Saujana Hijau at Presint 11 some 8 km away, through Jalan P11a and encircling a little bit around the bottom of the park via Jalan P11. Once we reached there, we took some time to recuperate and recharge, and took photos of course. Bottled water and bananas were handed out at the checkpoint set up at the park. Taman Saujana Hijau is a nice park atop a hill, with beautiful landscape and nice walk/jogging path cordoned with wooden fence. Being there is like being in a European garden.

the view at Taman Saujana Hijau, Presint 11

the ride marshal still in Hari Raya spirit, dressed in traditional Baju Melayu

the various parks at the area

I had small chats with a few fellow cyclists while resting over there. One was from Sentul. He told me that he cycled all the way from Sentul with his son and a few others earlier that morning to get to Putrajaya. Another is a touring cyclist (with his Surly Cross Check), who introduced himself as Abang Din.

segregated bike path marred by bumps resulted from tree roots

After 10 minutes or so, we moved on rolling down towards Persiaran Putra, going along a good distance of Jalan P11and a Jalan P11b, and headed to Persiaran Persekutuan. We went along the segregated bike path along Persiaran Putra. I like and applaud the implementation of the segregated bike path. Added to it are trees lining up the path creating a natural canopy for a cool ride. However, unfortunately the trees' roots crawled under the bike path towards the road, creating multiple mini bumps all along the way. This must be the reason why cyclists shy away from using the path. There was an accident in front of me whereby a young cyclist fell and scraped his skin.

a view of the Wetlands from Persiaran Utara, with the bridge on Persiaran Persekutuan

We regrouped on the bridge at Persiaran Utara and took photos, particularly of the swans and the bridge of Persiaran Persekutuan (Taman Wetland, Presint 13). Not long after that, we continued our ride and shifted to Persiaran Persekutuan at the interchange and headed back towards the starting place at Presint 1.

I lost count of the number of hills that we went up and down. For me, on that particular day I was fit enough not to suffer any cramps, and alhamdulillah was able to climb each one of them without much difficulty. Hence, I enjoyed tremendously the whole ride. I also loved the housing township that we rode along. Nice houses, clean area and neat roads with many places are with trees providing shades.

Overall, I like the idea of the ride. It does many things in one go. It promotes healthy recreation, it tests one's fitness, it introduces the parks around Putrajaya and also familiarises the area around it. Splendid.

queueing for post-ride meal and checking the lucky dip

the finisher medal

I finished my ride, arriving at the end/start gantry at about 10:15 am and covered some 18 km in distance. I received my medal, got in the queue for the meal provided and while doing so, checked my number whether it is entitled to a prize in the lucky dip. Well, I got none, and moved on to find a spot to have my meal.

I had something else to do later in the afternoon, so I didn't wait around for long and forfeited the lucky draw. So I went down to where I parked my car and went back straight to Seremban.